BMW Only good for 5 Years?

WHAT ?????????

"Yadda" wrote

Considering that I'm driving my '01 330xi with almost 140K on it, I would say the answer is no.

FloydR

I don't believe I'd let that schmo work on *my* car...

-- Larry

BMW dealers don't use mechanics - only fitters.

Troll ---

Yes.

Select your 330 3 Series convertible, drive it for five years, then leave it at my house. I'll take care of the shipping and port charges to get rid of it. Be sure to sign the pink slip and leave it and the key sin the glove box so I can take care of the legal documents for you. Maybe you could make it easier for me by getting a power of attorney ...

Seriously, Buy a Honda.

I have had five 7 series, often bought young, but disposed of after many years and miles. I PX'ed the third one after eleven years, with approaching

200k on the clock when it was 17 years old. It passed an MOT without work days later.

IMO there is a bit of vulnerability to age with all the fancy electronics in the newer ones, but I would still expect decades rather than five years.

Acquired Disposal Condition on disposal

735i 3 4 high mileage - worn 735iSE 3 6 accident write off 735iASE 6 17 passed MOT without work 740i 7 13 OK except cold start (Nikasil) 735i (V8) 6 - (now 9) no current faults

Yes, but that's no more a current BMW than my 2002 is.

Yadda, nobody can answer your question for another five years or so, then we'll know for sure. BUT, I'll say the the dealer is still stocking parts for my 2002 on the shelf, which sure sounds like a commitment to support older products to me.

--scott

You have to explain to them what the MoT is...

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"

What he meant is that when the warranty expires, repairs are ~$5K per year due to proprietary parts, especially electronic ones.

That COULD be a problem in the US, where you can't order the cars without a lot of electronic crap on them. Still, most of that junk can just be removed and discarded.....

--scott

Nobody wants ABS, Sat Nav, climate control, PDC, a radio or anything like that - do they?

One of the reasons why I first got a BMW in 1985 was that I had just suffered an accident where I had skidded and aquaplaned off the road and I decided I would never buy a car without ABS. Very minor injuries, but car written off in what was a very avoidable accident*. The the time about the only cars that had it were Ford Granadas and BMW 7 series, so I stumped up the money for a better car.

• yes a slower driver would have helped too!

Most of the 'electronic crap' that gives problems tend to be things like engine sensors and ABS sensors, etc. You might have fun if you discarded those. The 'toys' tend to be quite reliable. And many are worth having anyway. Apart from the auto windscreen wipers, obviously. ;-)

The engine sensors aren't in the 'crap' category... the BMW engine control systems are pretty impressively engineered and surprisingly reliable for all their complexity. They also are designed to be repaired, with diagnostics built into the system.

The crap are the things like the auto windscreen wipers, the heated seats, the ABS, and the iDrive. It costs a fortune to repair, but you can just disable it and not worry so much.

--scott

Cam and crank position sensor failure is pretty common. Nor are there really diagnostics built in - you need an external system to read a stored fault.

If you disable ABS in the UK it is an MOT (annual test for older cars) failure. And doesn't the iDrive control other more 'normal' functions too?

As regards the 'toys' most inbuilt sat nav systems aren't a patch on what you buy as an add on. Or at least the ones I've tried aren't as good as my TomTom. Auto wipers just don't seem to work well - but at least don't seem prone to failing. PDC - I would never have thought of specifying it - but it came with the car. And I appreciate it. So much so I've fitted and aftermarket one to my older car. Also like the auto dim mirrors. The memory power seat and steering wheel etc adjustment is pretty useful if you're not the only driver. And again seems pretty reliable. I do like the climate control too - and again it's been fine. Apart from the final stage 'resistor' - but BMW have a history of under specifying that.

That's true, and O2 sensors fail too. But that's not too bad, and to be honest it's more reliable than a a carb and Kettering ignition.

And you DO need a scanner to read the stored fault, which I agree is a big downside... it would be nice to have a little LCD screen and keyboard that pulls out under the hood like airplane engine systems often do. But I understand the need to build to a price point.

Yes, the iDrive integration is a pain.

--scott

Indeed. And far more accurate too - which benefits engine efficiency. Which means MPG and performance undreamed of only a few years ago. At least in my terms. ;-)

Seems to me that the iDrive could easily incorporate diagnostics. After all, it costs more than a decent laptop. But wouldn't suit the dealers.

My car is too early for that. ;-)

I dunno, the 2002 gets pretty impressive mileage and performance out of a pretty crude mechanical system. Better than the current 3-series I think. Considering that the Solex is total crap, it's amazing. Now, my wife describes it as an "ecological nightmare" and maybe she's right...

--scott

Not from what I've seen. Since the warranty expired, my '99 E46 328i with

93,000 miles has averaged less than $1,500 per year - about half in normal maintenance and half in repairs. The major repair items were control arms and A/C at about $1,000 each. And the only proprietary electronic device that needed to be replaced was the outside temperature sensor when a chipmunk chewed up the wiring. It cost around $300 parts & labor and was done while I waited.

Tom